gulfnews : IPOs declined 70% in Gulf markets last year

Gulf markets raised a miniscule $843.9 million (Dh3.1 billion) in 2011 as companies shied away from local bourses, a report has found.
This is a decline of almost 70 per cent on the $2.8 billion in 2010, while funds raised in the fourth quarter alone clocked in at just over $200 million, down 83.5 per cent over the same period of 2010.
"Companies chose other fundraising routes over IPOs in 2011, which was another year of low capital market activity," Phil Gandier, Mena head of Transaction Advisory Services, Ernst & Young, said in a report yesterday.

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